Friday, January 11, 2013

Slow is the New Fast

I had
really meant to blog daily when I started this, so here is my intention for
2013. I’m going to blog regularly. I haven’t even done that yet, so I’m laying
it out for the world that I am making this commitment. I use the word intention rather than
resolution because it is a focus on the present and the future, not the past. Resolutions seemingly are done with the
intention of fixing a past behavior. I am trying to bring mindfulness to my
presence and add something to my life.

Anyways,
back to the topic at hand. I made a
comment on the Back at Square Zero blog yesterday about slowing down on long
runs. One of the things that I convince
many of my new athletes to do is to slow down their long runs. A lot of runners that are looking to lay out
specific training plans with me feel that their long runs need to be at race
pace throughout the entire training season.
I even made this mistake during my first marathon training, and I ended
up with a horrible case of IT band syndrome.
For more information on IT band syndrome, search for anything related to
“searing knee pain.”

To
become a better athlete, not only to do you need to vary your training paces,
but you must do so correctly. Even to
the more advanced runners, who will include tempo runs and speed workouts into
their training, there are the correct paces and incorrect paces to do these
things. The most accessible way to
understand this is to consider the energy systems that the body uses to run and
how it corresponds to your training.
Those energy systems are: stored adenosine triphosphate (ATP), creatine
phosphate (CP), glycolytic, and aerobic.
The first three energy systems are anaerobic, which means they are
fueled without the presence of oxygen.
The last uses oxygen. All use ATP
as the source of energy.

The
anaerobic energy systems have limited output amounts before they need to be
replenished. For instance, the stored
ATP in the bodies muscles is the equivalent to get a sprinter out of the blocks
and just a couple of meters down the track. The CP system can get the runner most
of the way through 100 meters at top speed.
The glycolytic system can carry you through a 400m, give or take a few.

The
aerobic system on the other hand can take you as far as you want it to take
you, you just have to make sure that you are using your aerobic energy
system. Some coaches will give you
certain heart rates to hit (130-150 beats per minute), while others will tell
you that it’s the equivalent to a certain race pace (marathon race pace plus 90
seconds per mile; or if you are a 10:00 minute per mile marathoner, you are
operating on your aerobic system at 11:30-12:00 minutes per mile).

The
reason that you train at this slower pace is to exercise your aerobic system.
By exercising this system, you are building a stronger base to make your high
intensity workouts more effective.
Building volume at this pace will build endurance, while the higher
intensity workouts will build your stamina.
The difference between the two is that endurance is the base for going
the distance without stopping, while stamina is the base for going the distance
at a faster speed (think 5K or 10K pace).